I mentioned months ago: I would like for there to be more colors on those little bubbles in the stats.  You know when you rank Top 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 500?  There is green and yellow and I want to say I saw red if it was in the top 5.  I wish they would differentiate the 25, 50, 100 and 500 and add two more colors.  It would liven up the stats some and make the ranks more noticeable.

Sorry if this has already been mentioned (I'm too lazy and don't have time to look at 200+ replies :)  )

Anyway, I was thinking it would be cool if members can feature their favorite reviews on their profile, sort of like how VP staff has their favorite review on their business card.  I'd love to be able to feature say 5 of my favorite reviews (positive or negative) on my profile so people can see the stuff I really love or really dislike when visiting my profile, and be able to change them from time to time, maybe with a theme.  For example, 5 of my favorite LUSH products, 5 of my least favorite, 5 holiday gifts, 5 things needed for winter survival, etc. 

Maybe it would be cool to be able to feature seasonal reviews we have written. Like we could highlight our top gifts we reviewed or whatever for Christmas, romantic stuff for Valentine's Day shoppers, etc. Although with 1300 plus reviews, I don't even remember what I wrote about. I wrote a review last night only to find out I wrote a review in 2007 on the product. DOH.

My favorite reviews are the health related ones such as SAD products, ways to lower cholesterol naturally, snacks under 200 calories, etc.I don't really have any favorite reviews of products. I suppose I could look through and find some.

I think it would be cool if we could put our favorite reviews by season:

Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Valentines etc one for each month.

12 months in a year, maybe a calendar w/ our favorite review for that month?

Just a suggestion.

I posted this on the bug thread, but I will put it here too...

I have complained about this, and I know Patty, and JovialCougar have too now... why is it at the bottom of a new review, you can post the review to the discussion boards? I would like that eliminated. The reviews show up in the community timeline, and those posts, move better topics further down in the pages of the threads.

I would like to see the page numbers here in the forum also added to the top of the page.  Right now it is at bottom only and when you visit the board, you have to go to bottom of the page to get the the current discussion.  Would save some time!

pitcherday said…

I posted this on the bug thread, but I will put it here too...

I have complained about this, and I know Patty, and JovialCougar have too now... why is it at the bottom of a new review, you can post the review to the discussion boards? I would like that eliminated. The reviews show up in the community timeline, and those posts, move better topics further down in the pages of the threads.

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Agreed 100 times over. I think discussing products can be done on the review page in comments. That is what the comments section is all about. It would be nice to get a good discussion going on a reviewed product. I have seen some and have a couple of reviews that actually have people talking amongst themselves about the product and I love it! I don't like, nor do I read, the product discussions here. I feel they take away from our reviews by moving the discussions away from them.

I agree that page numbers on the top would make getting to the end of the discussion faster and easier.

on the "My Home" page, I would like to be able to control the discussion posts I see come up when there are new posts.  There are several that I may have posted to a long time ago... like games and such, that I never go back to, but they still come up on the list when there are new posts, making a huge list of discussions  I'd like to be able to turn some of those off.

Patty, JovialCougar and pitcherday, I have some clarifying questions for you on this topic.  Do I read your comments correctly that you like the fact that each product now has its own discussion board but that you don't like that those produce level discussions are being surfaced through the main discussion board? We did it this way so that both our staff here and the community leaders who have an easy way of finding new produce level discussions, but it sounds like you feel like it is making it harder to use the general discussion board.  Am I read your comments correctly?

BayouBengal said…

I would like to see the page numbers here in the forum also added to the top of the page.  Right now it is at bottom only and when you visit the board, you have to go to bottom of the page to get the the current discussion.  Would save some time!

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I second the motion!  I could have sworn it WAS that way at one time.

Matt said…

Patty, JovialCougar and pitcherday, I have some clarifying questions for you on this topic.  Do I read your comments correctly that you like the fact that each product now has its own discussion board but that you don't like that those produce level discussions are being surfaced through the main discussion board? We did it this way so that both our staff here and the community leaders who have an easy way of finding new produce level discussions, but it sounds like you feel like it is making it harder to use the general discussion board.  Am I read your comments correctly?

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This is just my take on the matter. For one, the product discussions definitely clutter the boards, pushing down more general discussions that more people can relate to. Many good general discussions have been dropped because the product discussions forced the topics off the page and, often, people don't go past the first page looking for topics to discuss.

But for me, having a discussion board for each and every product is just mind boggling. It seems that, if someone wants to discuss a product, they can do so on a review of that product with a comment. I have some reviews that actually have people talking to each other about the product, agreeing and disagreeing, and it not only brings traffic to my review and the others on the same topic but keeps people on the main site rather than on the message boards. (See below for a couple of examples.)

I really don't understand why anyone would need to discuss a product via the discussion boards if a review is posted is that product. If there are no reviews of a product, I suppose coming here and asking anyone of they have experience with a certain thing is fine.

I am a CL and I don't read the product topics. I have nothing to say about things I am not familiar with and, if I do happen to own a product, chances are I reviewed it or will soon! If we discuss the pros and cons here, is there going to even be a need for reviews on the product?

I could be misunderstanding why we have product discussions. No one really said why. They just appeared one day and we all were somewhat confused about them. I still am.

Here are a couple of examples of how products are discussed right on my review page rather than here on the boards. I am not trying to pimp out reviews, just show what I mean:

http://www.viewpoints.com/Xanax-XR-vs-Short-Acting-Xanax-review-89185

http://www.viewpoints.com/As-Seen-On-TV-Easy-Curves--142236-review-198b0

And look at my sister's Laurie's comments on this review!

http://www.viewpoints.com/InboxDollars-review-62763

Just wanted to chime in and say that Patty's post on this topic clarifies my feelings on the subject well, and voices my concerns in an even better way than I would have... with links included!

pd

AnnaBanana said…

BayouBengal said…

I would like to see the page numbers here in the forum also added to the top of the page.  Right now it is at bottom only and when you visit the board, you have to go to bottom of the page to get the the current discussion.  Would save some time!

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I second the motion!  I could have sworn it WAS that way at one time.

 

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It was there at one time but was removed with the last big release we had.  So you didn't imagine it or anything :)

That helps.  Perhaps one possible solution is to separate out the product level discussions from the general forum discussions.  Part of my vision for product level forums is to give visitors to the site a way to ask product specific questions that are not review or reviewer specific.   For example, if I am considering buying an SUV but I have a specific question about how many car seats will fit in the back seat, I ideally would be able to pose the question to a) all the people who have reviewed the product, or to b) our members who have earned a reputation as experts in that category. We just need to improve the product level forums so that when a question or comment is posted, it notifies those members who have written a review of the product. So I see product level discussions as another way to engage visitors and contributors in a conversation that ultimately helps them make a decision.  Do you think I am way off base?

Matt said…

 For example, if I am considering buying an SUV but I have a specific question about how many car seats will fit in the back seat, I ideally would be able to pose the question to a) all the people who have reviewed the product, or to b) our members who have earned a reputation as experts in that category.

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But if the question wasn't linked to a specific review or product listing, then how would *anyone* experts or newbies even know that it existed? When people comment on reviews, those member get notices that there has been activity on the reviews and they can decide whether or not to respond. 

If you make threads about topics that aren't connected to reviews.... your "experts" aren't even going to know that they exist unless they wade through 500 daily message board posts as they are free-standing discussions. 

I agree with you on this.  The question is linked to the product but there is no option to notify/alert anyone (previous reviewers, category experts etc) that the question has been asked.  We need to do that.

Matt said…

I agree with you on this.  The question is linked to the product but there is no option to notify/alert anyone (previous reviewers, category experts etc) that the question has been asked.  We need to do that.

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But who would you alert? Are there designated experts in certain categories? Or would the people who wrote reviews of the product get a notice that there is a question about something they reviewed? This, of course, brings me back to why a person can't just ask a question of the reviewer rather than bring it here but I understand a little better what you mean about your vision.

I just don't want to lose the helpfulness of a reviewer answering questions on their reviews. I really enjoy when I get comments and discussions on my reviews and they stay there for all time, easy to find. With discussion board topics, once the topic is done being discussed, the thread is pushed back and probably never seen again. On reviews, comments remain readable every time someone reads the review.

But if it brings more people to the site and you figure out how best to present these discussions, who am I to disagree? You'll fine tune things, I am sure, so that there is a balance between cluttering the boards and taking away comments from reviews and helping  people to find answers to questions about products from people who know the answers.

Matt said…

That helps.  Perhaps one possible solution is to separate out the product level discussions from the general forum discussions.  Part of my vision for product level forums is to give visitors to the site a way to ask product specific questions that are not review or reviewer specific.   For example, if I am considering buying an SUV but I have a specific question about how many car seats will fit in the back seat, I ideally would be able to pose the question to a) all the people who have reviewed the product, or to b) our members who have earned a reputation as experts in that category. We just need to improve the product level forums so that when a question or comment is posted, it notifies those members who have written a review of the product. So I see product level discussions as another way to engage visitors and contributors in a conversation that ultimately helps them make a decision.  Do you think I am way off base?

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I do like the idea of being able to go to the bottom of your review and just quickly post a question to the discussion boards that way. The newbies will be aware that the boards exist, and won't have to figure out how to start a thread.

However... if you look at many of the reviews being posted to the boards, they are complaints and praise and not questions about the product/services. I do not think those are helping any. If people do have questions, their threads are getting pushed way back as well as the other topics.

Also, I don't know what makes you an "expert" in a category. Lots of reviews with HV's in a certain category? And again, how are these experts being notifed?

If you can start a thread about a certain SUV, what is the motivation to read the individual reviews, comment and rate them? It drives the traffic away from reviews and to the "one stop shopping" discussion boards. Just post a question thread, sign up for the replies to be emailed to you and you don't really need to come back to the site after that.

It might help people make more informed decisions, but drive traffic away from individual reviews, and maybe even the site.

I could not have said it any better than pitcherday just did. I am trying to figure out how the feature will help retain members or encourage them to read reviews, write reviews, or do anything but get info about a product and then leave (or not even come back for that. Email notifications make it so you never have to return).

Maybe more clarification is needed.